Word of the Day: EGREGIOUS

egre·gious

adjective \i-ˈgrē-jəs\

: very bad and easily noticed

Full Definition of EGREGIOUS

1 archaic :  distinguished

2 :  conspicuous; especially :  conspicuously bad :  flagrant <egregious errors> <egregious padding of the evidence — Christopher Hitchens>

— egre·gious·ly adverb

— egre·gious·ness noun

Examples of EGREGIOUS

1. an egregious example of political bias
2. <the student’s theme was marred by a number of egregious errors in spelling>
3. … the public perception is that too many corporate executives have committed egregious breaches of trust by cooking the books, shading the truth, and enriching themselves with huge stock-option profits while shareholders suffered breathtaking losses. —John A. Byrne et al., Business Week, 6 May 2002
4. History cannot be rewritten, but some of its more egregious errors can be corrected—at least in part, at least symbolically. … Or so assume a growing number of human-rights advocates. —Ellis Cose, Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2001

Origin of EGREGIOUS

Latin egregius, from e- + greg-, grex herd — more at gregarious

First Known Use: circa 1534

Related to EGREGIOUS

Synonyms

blatant, conspicuous, flagrant, glaring, gross, obvious, patent, pronounced, rank, striking

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/egregious?show=0&t=1409829958

Great example of a word whose definition changed dramatically from its original meaning. We should take notice of these changes and how they are used to change historical facts and twist context. -WR